Alor (Kalabahi) to Lembata(Loweleba)

The overnight trip to the Island of
Alor was not as comfortable as the crossing to Kupang. The wind was
variable in direction and strength, in other words, all over the
place. We left early in the morning to make the 150 mile crossing
and be at the entrance to the island's channel by daylight. We were
about 20 miles away when the sun rose. We approached the channel
later than the other yachts in the fleet and came in with the tide,
doing up to 8 knots. They were struggling with the last of the
outgoing tide. It can be furious here. We timed it well and caught up
to them.

The scenery here is spectacular. High
mountains, once volcanic, are covered with dense vegetation, lush and
green now. High islands with small communities clinging on to their
sides. What do they do?

The channel into Kalabahi harbour is
long and deep and very steep sided covered with lush vegetation. It
is very beautiful. We were expecting the worst, having read a report
that it was a dirtier place than Kupang – but we were pleasantly
surprised. It was much cleaner and there was a feeling that there was
pride in the place. The Inter-islands cultural and sporting events co-coincided with our visit, the National Independence celebrations for
Indonesia and Ramadan. This may have had something to do with the
clean up – houses were being painted and gardens were neat and
clean. There was a “fizz” in the air - a feeling of anticipation
and excitement about what was happening

While here there were other events that
we were invited to – welcome ceremonies, speeches, a parade through
town to the cultural centre and dinner at the Regents residence.

We took a tour to a traditional village
where we were entertained with dancing and a market where local
crafts were being sold. We bought a bunch of vanilla beans ( We are
in the Spice Islands) On the way home we stopped to go snorkelling on
a local beach. Alor, according to the guides has the 2nd
best diving sites in the world. It was spectacular, and clear but a
strong current was running.

The highlight of our stay in Kalabahi
was the arrival of a couple of hump-back whales near the anchorage.
They came close to the fleet of 30 boats – very exciting. We saw
them again 2 days later on our way out of the harbour.

On our way to the next destination we
stopped at an anchorage where there were already 8 boats.

We arrived in the dark, and were guided
through the passage through the reef by friends who were already
there, not easy in the dark, and anchored in 18m water. In the
morning, not only could we see the smoke of the nearby volcano, but
we could see the bottom 18m below. The water was crystal clear –
the clearest water we had ever swum in and full of millions of tiny
tropical fish. All but 1 other yacht left and left us in seclusion
and peace. We snorkelled and swam for a long time in the beautiful
calm, clean water, glad we did not rush to the next destination.

We left the next morning to arrive in
Loweleba with favourable currents and tides. We were being welcomed
to the island that evening with a ceremony, parade, dinner and tribal
traditional dancing .

We don't have any events for the next
few weeks so we are looking forward to the opportunity to visit some other communities and anchorages and meet the people and go diving,
swimming and experience the real Indonesia.